A second report has verified Bayern Munich are prepared to pay much more than the value of Barcelona’s option to buy Marcus Rashford, but while that’s fantastic news for Manchester United, two barriers must still be breached.
In an ideal world, Man Utd would simply sell Rashford to Barcelona by way of the pre-agreed €30m / £26m option to buy.
But while Barcelona and manager Hansi Flick in particular do want Rashford back, the club’s money men, namely sporting director Deco, are playing games.
Barcelona have already signed Anthony Gordon for big money and plan to bid again for Julian Alvarez, even despite Atletico Madrid making it crystal clear he’s not for sale.
Atleti laughed off Barca’s opening €100m bid and gave equally short shrift to Real Madrid’s €150m bid over the past 24 hours.
There’s still room for Rashford too, even if Alvarez were to join, though Barcelona have no intention of paying full price.
Explaining the situation one week ago, trusted reporter, Ben Jacobs, delivered an update to TheUnitedStand.
He said: “Barcelona have told Man Utd two things in the last two or three weeks…
“Number one – they’ll pay €20 million with a different structure.
“Number two – they won’t pay €20 million, they’ll do €30 million but they want a season long loan, and that €30 million to be a conditional obligation to buy, likely triggered by performance-related criteria.
“Man Utd are saying no, it’s €30 million otherwise Rashford is coming back to Man Utd.”
Want more breaking news and transfer lines from original sources? Add TEAMtalk as a preferred source on Googleto your favourites list for news you can trust.
Bayern Munich ready to pay £34.5m for Marcus Rashford
However, German outlet BILD recently claimed Bayern Munich are actually ready to put an even bigger sum on the table.
They noted Bayern – who missed out on Anthony Gordon to Barcelona and saw a deal for Liverpool’s Rio Ngumoha crumble – are willing to pay €40m / £34.5m for Rashford.
HAVE TOU SEEN: Liverpool inside source shares big update on Rio Ngumoha future with Reds raging at Bayern Munich
That is brilliant news for Man Utd who fully intend to spend heavily this summer. The proceeds from Rashford’s sale – which would be logged as ‘pure profit’ on the books – could be immediately reinvested in further new recruits after Ederson.
The latest from the Sun has verified Bayern are indeed fully prepared to pay €40m / £34.5m for the Man Utd winger, but there’s two issues that must be overcome.
Firstly, Rashford has his heart set on re-joining Barcelona and must give up on that dream if the Bayern route is to become viable.
MORE MAN UTD COVERAGE ON TEAMTALK…
* Man Utd told mouthwatering £80m target has ‘no limits’ as Newcastle signing ticks major box
* Midfielder ‘discusses’ joining Man Utd with current players – already has SIX allies in dressing room
*Man Utd want £60m Newcastle defender over Cristian Romero as sources shut down Tottenham transfer claims
Secondly, Bayern don’t want to match Rashford’s currently salary at Old Trafford, which is around £325,000-a-week.
The winger did agree to a substantial pay-cut when ironing out personal terms with Barcelona in case they activated their option to buy.
However, given Barcelona are his dream club and that’s where he’s desperate to go, it makes sense he would make the financial sacrifice.
Would he willing to do the same for Bayern Munich? Man Utd will certainly be hoping so.